The Party
by NEPatriot97
Summary: Chad plays with my fingers and says, "Sonny, I've been trying to tell you something for awhile." "You, uh, like So Random?" I ask stupidly. Chad scoffs at me. "No, not at all. I still think you guys can't act. No, actually, I like you, Sonny. Alot."
1. The Invite

**The Invite**

"Hey, everyone!"

Chad stands up from his seat at the caf. The rest of the cast of So Random! and I look over, reluctantly.

While I'm looking at him, I can't help but notice how his hair compliments his facial features so nicely.

"I, Chad Dylan Cooper, as you all know, am hosting a party at my mansion on Saturday. You all are welcome. Even," he glances over at our table and sighs, "you people from chuckle city."

I stand up and put my hands on my hips. "What makes you think we'd want to go to _your_ house just to see you 'actors'," I make air-quotes when I say actor, "fawn over each other?"

Chad scoffs. "Because everyone does!"

I roll my eyes and sit down. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going."

Tawni looks up and me and flips her hair. "If his house is as nice as their set, I wouldn't mind going." We all stare at her. "Just to use the luxuries!"

"Yes, and while we're there, we can steal his stuff! Yes!" Zora cackles.

"Alright, that's two. What about you guys?" I look at Nico and Grady.

Grady leans over the table at me. He looks around suspiciously, and then whispers, "I heard he has a sweet entertainment system."

"Dude!" Nico hits him on the arm.

"Thank you, Nico." I sit back in my chair, triumphant.

"It's not the entertainment that's sweet, it's the kitchen! I heard he has an open bar."

My mouth opens and I stare at them, horrified. "You guys are going?"

Tawni shrugs. "Who knows? There might be big time celebs there."

"But, but, it's _Chad Dylan Cooper_," I stutter, bewildered.

Tawni looks at me pityingly and pats my hand. "We know."

"Then why are guys going?"

"We told you. Tawni wants to go for the stuff, Zora for… who knows, and Grady and I want to go for TV and the ladies," Nico says, smoothing his hat.

"Okay, well, if you guys are going, I'll go too."

Grady opens his mouth to say something, and I instantly say, "I do _not _like Chad Dylan Cooper! Gosh!"

Everyone stares at me. I shrug, embarrassed.

To get away from them, I stand up and walk over to MacKenzie Falls' table and tap Chad on the shoulder. He looks up, annoyed.

"What?"

I beam. "I just wanted to let you know that we're all coming to your party."

He eyes me. "Great. Okay, bye!"

Frowning, I walk back over to my seat. Chad Dylan Cooper is so _strange._


	2. The Outfit

I flip through my closet, trying to decide what to wear. Today is Thursday night, and the party is on Saturday, but I want to make sure that I don't have nothing to wear the night of the party because all of my clothes are dirty, so…

The phone in my pocket vibrates and begins to moo. I take it out and check the caller ID. It's Tawni. Thank gosh! She's just the person I want to talk to.

"Tawni, you're just person I need to talk to!"

"I know- I always am." Tawni's high voice crackled through the phone.

"What's up?" I say, flipping through my clothes again.

"I was just wondering what your wearing to Chad's party. You know, so we don't end up wearing the same thing."

"I don't know! That's why I need to talk to you."

A thought occurs to me.

"Hey, Tawni… Can you come over?"

--------

A few snarky comments and thirty minutes later, Tawni Hart is sitting on the edge of my bed, insulting every piece of clothing I have.

"Okay, what about these tops, with this skirt?" I ask, holding up a cute flowy, floral blouse with a red vest and a jean skirt.

"Ewww! That's like, so… I can't even describe the top it's so hideous! And that vest, like, hurts my eyes."

"Okay… What about this?"

I show her a V-neck blouse with a lacy tank built into it."

"Ugh, what are you eight?"

"Well, that's everything I have that's party-worthy."

"Hmmm. What you need is to go shopping," Tawni says, standing up.

"But I don't get my allowance until tomorrow, and I blew last week's on make-up for a certain someone."

"So? You do remember that you're on a TV show, right? We get money for that, you know."

"I know, but…," I rub my arm uncomfortably, "my mom puts most of it away for college and in trust bonds, and the rest is my allowance."

"Why don't you just ask your mom for some money, then?"

I shake my head. "She's really strict about that stuff. She has to know what I'm buying, and how much it'll cost."

"Oh… Well… do you have an emergency credit card or something?"

I grin and think about all the comedies that have trouble with credit cards, and in the end, the character learns a valuable lesson about money.

"No. My mom's going to get me one when I turn 18, though!"

"Whoa! Is that some kind of, like, Wisconsin rule or something?"

"No, it's just… my mom," I say, embarrassed.

"Weird. Okay, well, I'll you what. I don't want to be embarrassed being seen with you, so I'll pay for your outfit okay?"

"Really, Tawni!? That is so nice! Thank you! Thank you _so much_!" I fling my arms around her and hug her tight.

She remains as stiff as a bored. "Get. Off. Of me!"

I step away from her, blushing. "Oh, right. Sorry."

"Whatever. How are we going to get there?"

"Well… We could always ask Chad…"

"To what? Take us shopping for _his _party? We'd never hear the end of it! God, Sonny, we're in Hollywood! There are cabs here, you know!"

"Oh, right! But how are we going to get past my mom?"

"Let me do my thing," Tawni says, flipping her hair.

I nod and follow her out of my room and into the living room, where my mom was sitting, flipping through a magazine. We stand there for a moment, but she doesn't look up.

Finally, Tawni clears her throat impatiently. Mom looks up and beams at us. "What's up, girls?"

I look at Tawni pointedly. She glares at me, and then smiles sweetly at my mother. "Hello, Mrs. Monroe. I was wondering if I could take Sonny out for a girls' day through the town. I thought we could go window shopping at some antique stores- you know, Hollywood has _wonderful _antique stores; celebrities furniture!- and maybe take a walk through the park down the street. Is that okay with you?"

Mom beams again, and says, "Oh, that is so sweet of you! I'm so glad Sonny has a friend like you."

I snort, and Tawni glares at me again.

"Okay, thanks Mom, we'll be back by five. See ya!" I pull Tawni through the door before Mom could say anything more. Once the door was closed, I look at Tawni.

"I never knew you were so persuasive."

Tawni frowns at me and says, "I may be pretty, but I have other talents too, you know."

------

The cab pulls up in front of a store called _Cinderella_. From the models in the display, I can tell that this is _totally _my type of store.

As Tawni pays the driver and he drives away, I wait patiently next to her, trying to push down the excitement that was swelling up inside me.

"I used to come here when I was younger," Tawni says. She looks me up and down. "When I was twelve."

I decide to ignore this comment, and instead, I pull her inside.

My eyes land on a dress hanging upon a wall instantly when I step inside.

It was a long button up shirt, with sleeves about down to the elbow, with a tab keeping them from falling down. The color was an orange-pinkish plaid, with black buttons. A black belt was belted tightly around the waist.

"Oh. My. _GOD_! That is it. That is the one," I scream, grabbing Tawni's arm.

"That hideous pink shirt?" Tawni asks, obviously disgusted.

"Yes!"

"Fine," she sighs, like I'm a silly little girl she doesn't have the energy to control, "Try it on."

Squealing, I find the dress in my size and run into the dressing room. I strip down to my bra and underwear, and undo the belt on the dress. Once all of the buttons are undone, I pull it on and button it up and redo the belt.

Turning around, I look at myself in the mirror.

It was perfect. The belt accentuated my waist, while the color gave my hair the impression of a richer brown then it was. It came down to my mid thigh region, which I know my mother would never approve of, but I would just pants or something under it.

Grinning ear to ear, I imagine what Chad would think when he sees me in this, and then kick myself in the butt.

I do _not _want to imagine what Chad thinks about me… do I?

Instead of dwelling on the subject, I step out of the changing room. Tawni is leaning against the frame if the changing rooms' entrance. When she sees me, she straightens.

"Well, what do you think?" I ask shyly.

"It's… It's- Um, well… I, uh, um…" She stutters, looking strange.

"You don't like it." My heart falls. How stupid was I to think that I actually looked good in this stupid outfit?

"No, it's not that. I like it. Kind of. It's not my style. But wait a second…"

She slips her phone out of purse and presses a few buttons. Then she holds it up and says, "Say 'cheese'!" And then she presses a few more buttons. The phone beats out a few tunes, and she slips it back into her purse, looking smug.

"Did you just take my picture and send it to someone?"

"Pretty much."

"Who?"

Tawni shrugs. "Just Nico and Grady."

"Why them?" I ask, confused.

"Well, since I'm a girl- with much better taste than you, you need a guy's opinion. Even if Nico and Grady aren't technically guys. I mean, you are trying to impress Chad, right?"

"What? No. I do _not _like Chad Dylan Cooper," I say, but I'm blushing furiously.

"Yeah. Right."

Just then, her purse starts pulsing with a peppy tune, and she takes it out.

Tawni reads the texts, and then hands the phone to me.

Above the texts is Tawni's message, along with the picture of me. I'm smiling widely, and the light is in my favor.

_How does Sonny look?_

Nico: _Dang, girl, she looks _great_!_

Grady: _That's Sonny? Oh, okay. Yeah, she looks good._

My heart rises a bit. "So I don't look terrible?"

Tawni shrugs and flips her hair. "Guess not. So are you gonna buy it?"

"Definitely. Wait a second, and I'll get changed."

When I get back out of the dressing room, we look at the price tag. It is $49.99.

"Tawni, you don't have to buy it. I can find something else to wear that I already own."

"Okay!"

"Or! Or I could pay you back tomorrow when I get my fifty bucks allowance."

"Fine."

Tawni pays for the dress, and I have to refrain myself from hugging her.

Just 2 days, 4 hours and 28 minutes until Chad's party!

_Yeah… not the best chapter. But tell me what you think and REVIEW! I need some ideas for the rest of the story! Stupid writers block. _

_OMG! Sunday's episode of SWAC was adorable! I love Channy even more now! Ack!_


	3. The Encounter

_Okay, before we get started, I like to go over a few things. First, I want to thank everyone who reviewed to this story- it helped a lot. Secondly, I have a few people wondering what the dress thingie that Sonny picked out last chap looked like, since I stink at describing –always have, always will. To PhoenixBlaze8, I haven't seen Camp Rock in awhile, so I don't exactly remember what you're talking about, but I do remember seeing her in something like the outfit I described. And ALittleMind asked me what the dress looked like in detail, so here it is. Do you know how guys have those button down shirt things? Well, the dress is like that, but way longer. It also has loops around the waist to hold the belt, which is black and kind of thick. The sleeves are elbow length, and they have those little tabby things that you button over the fold of the cuff (sorry, I'm not a fashion designer so I don't know all the terminology). It's a plaid pink and orange design. It's not really a dress, more like a shirt dress, if that's what it's called. It's hard to explain, so here's pic of what I kind of had in mind… Well, it's in my profile. Okay, so this A/N has been long enough, so I won't put anything at the bottom like I do sometimes. Instead, I'll put what I was going to put down there up here. Okay, first of all, I was wondering if I should do some chappies from Chad's POV, like when Sonny gets to the party, so we know what he's thinking, right? Tell me! Review, please (okay, I lied- I'm going to tell you to review at the end, too, in case ppl don't read this)! Okay, on with the story._

**The Encounter**

It was Friday at lunch. Chad, strangely, was sitting alone.

I tried to ignore him, really, I did, but pretty soon the curiosity became too much, and I walked over to his table, covered in the fine white table cloth.

"Your friends ditched you, huh?" I say, crossing my arms.

"No," he says sharply. "I sent them back to the studio to get me something."

Pulling out a chair, I sit next to him. "Like what?"

"Why aren't you at chuckle city with all of your pathetic little comedian friends?"

"Why aren't you answering my question?"

Chad breathes heavily, something I've never seen him do before. It was like he was regaining his composure. "Listen, alright? Why don't you just go back to your little table with your little friends and mind your own business."

"Sorry, but that's not the way I work. Something's bothering you, and I want to know what."

"What if I don't tell you?"

"Then I'm going to poke you until you do."

I jab a finger in his upper arm, hard and repetitively. Once though, my finger slipped, and I poked him in the arm pit.

He let out a burst of short laughter, strong and hearty. A smile pulled my lips up and I stared at him. Chad looked mad, embarrassed, red, and something else I couldn't place.

"You're _ticklish?_" I ask incredulously, not believing that Chad actually had a human trait other than pride and conceitedness.

"Chad Dylan Cooper is not ticklish!"

I grin at him and quirk an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Then what would happen if I did this?"

Leaning over, I poke him in the waist.

His whole body twitches insanely, and he lets out peal after peal of laughter. I grin wider, laughing myself. Chad's laugh is contagious- you can listen to it without laughing.

Scooching my chair closer, I start tickling him until he's falling out of his chair with giggles.

Everyone in the whole commissary was staring at us. I didn't care- hey, if I could do chicken noises in front of the crew of MacKenzie Falls, I could tickle Chad Dylan Cooper in front everyone eating lunch, right?- but obviously, Chad did.

He stands up abruptly, his chair falling over backwards with a loud crash. He looks so angry, it's almost comical.

"Sonny, could you grow up? I thought girls stopped tickling each other in the sixth grade."

I stand up too. "Nope, girls are ticklers for life."

"Well, thank you. You just embarrassed me in front of everyone, and made this day worse than it already was."

My smile falters. "Chad, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to cheer up."

"Well, I didn't."

He storms out of the commissary, and I watch him until he turns the corner.

I felt so bad. I never meant to make him angry.

But I couldn't stop thinking about how hard his stomach and arms were. It was like iron.

Tawni walks up behind me. "You totally love each other," she says, and then walks out of the room.

Great. I just practically told everyone the secret that I hadn't been willing to tell even myself.

I was madly in like with Chad Dylan Cooper.

_Okay, not the best… Actually, lets be honest- it sucked. But tell me what you think, and don't forget to review on your way out, and tell me whether or not I should write from Chad's POV. See that button down there that says REVIEW? Please click it. Please?_

_Oh, right- _**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sonny with a Chance, or Wet Seal.


	4. The Bad News

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed!_

**The Bad News**

"Okay, good job, everyone!"

The lights dim, and the crew gets ready for the scene.

I walk off the set, gesturing for my cast to follow me.

Pretty soon we arrive at the massage/lounge room. I fall gracefully onto one of the couches, my limbs splaying out onto the leather.

When the rest of the cast doesn't sit down, I sigh and give a gesture.

They instantly go about their business. Portlyn perches on the couch next me, and my arm, which is placed on the back of the couch, is around her.

She gives me ditzy smile. "Good job, Chad! You did great!"

I lean back farther and give a lazy grin. "Yeah. You're right- I did do great, didn't I?"

Portlyn giggles and rests her head on my shoulder. I kind of wish she wouldn't but, at least she's on my cuddling arm.

I remember having Sonny's head on my shoulder. Her hair was fragrant and nice, like sweet flowers. Her body had radiated off a warm heat, and her head had fit nicely onto my shoulder.

I hate the fact that I liked Sonny so much. I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, and Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't fall for _comedians_.

But whenever I see her, my heart starts pounding really fast, and my palms start sweating.

It's infuriating.

Portlyn is blabbering on about something, and so I tune in.

"I was watching So Random! last night, and-"

"Wait, what? You were watching So Random!? Portlyn, we don't like them, remember?"

"I know. But I saw Sonny doing this lame sketch about cheese."

I wait a moment, but she doesn't say anything else. "And?"

"And it was really stupid."

Sighing, I stand up and go into my dressing room.

I had professional interior designers work on my dressing room for a month until it met my standards. It was a smallish room, bigger than the cast's, but not as big as my room back home.

I fall onto the bed pressed into one of the corners and close my eyes. Like it is branded there, Sonny's face is what I see as soon as I closed my eyes. The image is perfect- the sweep of her bangs across her forehead, her big brown eyes filled with some incomprehensible emotion as she stared up at me from her place inside my arm.

What I need now is a distraction. Something- or someone to keep my mind off of Sonny.

There is a knock on the door. I sit up and tell them to come in, if they must.

The door opens a little bit, and a dark head pokes through.

"You have a phone call, Chad," Josh says, holding out a white phone that _seriously _clashed with my color scheme.

"Who is it from?" I ask suspiciously.

"Uh... Your mother?"

I heave a heavy sigh. "Alright, give it to me."

He hands me the phone. When he doesn't leave automatically, I raise an eyebrow at him and make a shooing motion at the door. He scurries out, leaving me with my mother.

"Hey, Mom."

"Chad! What's up? How _are _you?" Her high voice has a forced note to it, like she's trying to cover something.

"Mom, what is it?" Even to me, my voice sounds tired and worn out.

I didn't exactly have the best night last night. I couldn't sleep, and I kept tossing and turning. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept seeing Sonny, and how she felt against me, and how good she smelled. It was like a punishment from hell, but in a heavenly form.

The only thing keeping me going was that tonight, my mom was taking me out to dinner, for a much needed one on one time. She was always so busy with her boyfriends; it was like I never saw her anymore. Tonight we were going to catch up on everything, and I was going to ask her about Sonny.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." The happiness in her voice fell away like a blanket trying to cover a window with nothing holding it up. Now it was filled with guilt and regret.

The back of my neck prickled. "What?"

"I have to cancel on tonight. Garret"- her current boyfriend, a sleazy, gold-digging bastard-"is taking me out clubbing. I'm going to meet _Beyonce_!"

"That's… That's great, Mom," I say, my heart falling. "Have a good time."

"I'm sorry Chad, but I have to go. I'm going to a spa to get exfoliated for tonight! Bye!"

"Bye." But she had already hung up.

I stare at the phone, and then fling it half-heartedly against the opposite wall. It hits the wall with a crash, and falls to the floor, a mess of plastic and wires.

Sighing, I lay back down on the bed.

The door opens a bit. "Uh, can I have the phone-" Josh sees the phone. "Oh. Uh, never mind."

He closes the door behind him as he leaves.

I sigh again and rub my forehead.

------

I leave early to go to lunch, and the rest of the cast had stayed to do a scene that I wasn't in.

The hurt and anger overpowers every other emotion in my body, leaving my nerves numb.

I'd gotten a sirloin steak for lunch, but my appetite is gone.

As I sit alone at the head of my table, poking the dead cow sitting in front of me, I don't hear the footsteps coming up behind me until a very familiar voice speaks.

"Your friends ditched you, huh?"

If I hadn't been so depressed, my whole body would be on high alert, as it always is around Sonny. But now, I just feel a muffled buzzing through my body. It erases most of my sadness, leaving only anger.

"No. I sent them back to the studio to get me something." My voice comes out harsh as I say the lie, and I find myself pleased that I am still capable of being mean to Sonny.

"Like what?" I'm aware of her sitting down, but I'm to busy being mad to care that she is sitting at the MacKenzie Falls table uninvited. Who does she think she is, prying into my private life like that? It's not like we are dating or-

I clench my fists under my table, and stop the thought of our fake date, our fake kiss, before it consumes me.

I look over at her table, where her cast is watching us, talking quietly. Partly out of curiosity, partly for an excuse not to answer her question, I ask her why she isn't sitting with her friends. Okay, maybe I don't say it as nicely as that, but I can't have her know that I wanted her to come over here because she cares about me, or that I'm upset because my mother can't keep a promise at all, now can I?

I'm not looking at her, but I can here the smirk in her voice. "Why aren't you answering my questions?"

My heart is thumping in my chest like crazy, and I know that if I speak, my voice will shake, and that would shatter my appearance of a perfect life, and that nothing bothers me. I take a breath, and close my eyes for a moment. When I open them and look at her, she looks shocked. I'm guessing she heard that.

Convinced to keep up the act, I say, "Listen, alright? Why don't you just go back to your little table with your little friends and mind your own business."

"Sorry, but that's not the way I work. Something's bothering you, and I want to know what."

I look at her sharply. She's leaning casually against her chair, arms folded over her chest. My heart gives a hard thump, and I swallow.

"What if I don't tell you?"

"Then I'm going to poke you until you do."

True to her word, she pokes my bicep. It didn't hurt. I work out every Saturday at the studio gym, and so it doesn't bother me. It's like somebody throwing pebbles at me; muted stinging, but not anything that I can't ignore.

What is really bothering me, though, is the fact that she is touching me. Each poke is like an electric shock.

If I hadn't been down, I would tell her to stop. But I can't muster up the energy.

Her finger hits my arm, slides over my coat's material and into my armpit. Gross, I know, but it doesn't stop the ticklish feeling from spreading through my body.

I burst out laughing, and I remember the times before my career as an actor, when my parents were still together, and my father used to tickle me mercilessly until I was close to peeing in my pants.

I flush at the memory, sorrow pulling at my heart, along with the anger at my mother and Sonny.

She stares at me, smirking. "You're _ticklish_?"

"Chad Dylan Cooper is not ticklish!" I yell defensively.

Sonny grins, and begins tickling me. The familiar feeling of being tickled fills me, along with the electricity of Sonny's hands on my stomach. I can't stop laughing.

I'm aware of everyone staring at us, and embarrassment rises in me.

Standing up, my chair falls down behind me, but I don't hear it. My vision is blurry, black mist blocking most of my sight. I sway in my shoes.

Words pour out of my mouth. I hear them from a distance, as if I'm not the one saying them. "Sonny, could you grow up? I thought girls stopped tickling each other in the sixth grade."

She's still grinning at me. Suddenly, I hate her. I hate how she's so happy _all the time_. Doesn't she have any human feelings?

"Nope, girls are ticklers for life."

Disdain rises in my throat like bile, forcing scornful words out, words that I wanted to keep down.

"Well, thank you. You just embarrassed me in front of everyone, and made this day worse than it already was."

Her hurt is clear on her face, and just as quickly as I hated her, I hate myself. "Chad, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to cheer up."

"Well, I didn't."

And before I can make the situation any worse than it already is, I leave the room.

My vision is practically gone, so I let my feet carry me.

When I'm able to see again, I find myself in the last place and first place I expect to be.

I'm sitting in Portlyn's dressing room, on the couch.

I guess it makes sense that I came here. We always hook up when one of us is feeling down. It's like therapy for the lips.

After a while, Portlyn walks in. She sees me and smiles.

"Hi, Chad!"

I give her a sexy smile, and gesture for her to come over. She flounces over and leans against me.

I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close to me. Portlyn looks seductively up at me through her eyelashes. It's one of the few things she's good at; being flirtatious and desirable.

I bend my head down, and as soon as my lips touch hers, she throws her arms around me, and we gracefully lie down on the couch, where we engage in a hot and heavy make out session.

By the time I leave her dressing room, I feel ten times better than I did before.


	5. The Arrival

**Peaceful**

You know that time before a storm, when everything gets really quiet and peaceful. That's what it's like all Saturday day.

I sleep in late, waking up at eleven, and then take a long, luxurious shower.

After breakfast I sit down and watch reruns of McKenzie Falls, but Chad's outburst from yesterday keeps coming back to me. I feel so bad. He must've had a really rough day to be mad enough to yell in front a whole cafeteria. Actually, scratch that. Chad probably plans out ways that he can get people to look at him.

Unable to watch him anymore, I switch the channel over to the news. Boring, yes, but at least it's not Chad's face.

Tawni comes over at five, and we start getting ready. My plan was for us to paint each other's nails, share make-up tips and maybe even do each other's hair, but that blew up in my face.

"Let's get this straight," Tawni said as soon as she walked into the apartment. "There will be _no_, and I mean absolutely no painting of each other's feet, sharing clothes, sharing make-up, and no one touches my hair other than me and my stylist."

"Then what are we supposed to do then?"

She smiles and flips her hair. "I get ready, and you watch." Then she picks up her stuff and leads the way to my bedroom. I make a face at her back and follow.

_______

In the end, Tawni did end up helping me with my hair. She pulled a huge curling iron out of the bag she had brought in with her and carefully curled each three-inch section at a time, and them brushed my bangs to the side. She says it looks fashionable. I don't believe her.

I pull on a pair of tights and then my dress. I forgot how good it looked.

Half an hour later, Nico and Grady swung by in Grady's beat up pick-up truck to take us to Chad's place on the other side of town. Or city, that is. I keep forgetting I'm not in Wisconsin anymore.

Driving through the city with your friends at night is different than driving through with mom at noon. Suddenly every shop looks more appealing, the lights more stunning. Tawni and I shriek and do our best to distract Grady from his driving, and laugh.

Grady pulls up to a wrought iron fence with the numbers 63 incorporated into the design. "I guess this is it," he says, rolling down his window to talk to the guy manning the gate.

"He has a gate?' Nico says, twisting in his seat to try to catch a glimpse of the mansion. "He's pretty rich, huh?"

"Yeah," Tawni sniffs. "My mom would never dream of getting a gate. She's so boring."

Grady straightens up in his seat and grins at us, rubbing his hands together. "We're in. Hello, mini dogs!"

As we watch, the gate splits in half and slowly opens. Then we're driving up the too long driveway. It's dark, but we can still make out the palm trees that line it.

Pretty soon we're pulling into a circular driveway, already packed with expensive looking cars. But the real sight is the huge mansion that towers over us.

Made of white marble, it's easily four stories tall, with long windows and a huge front door. Pillars hold up a balcony that juts out over the front steps.

We climb out of the car and stand in line, staring at the house on steroids. Then Grady extends his arm, his hand clenched in a fist. His face contorts and he screams at the top of his lungs, "_For Sparta!" _and charges toward the house.

We've arrived at the party.


End file.
